Are the media being unprofessional re Air India crash?

[rhomb]

The Air India crash has at one survivor (so far). Heard that the media are bombarding the relatives of this survivor. I find this unprofessional and harassing, especially when the survivor’s brother was on the same flight.

I wish the media will stop trying to get stories from anybody as sensational. It’s not.

Also no need for news specials with presenters asking questions to correspondents and experts who don’t know the answer as the info hasn’t been available etc. Then rephrase it. Again so unprofessional.

The press has always been like this and with the advent of social media everyone that uses it has made it easier for the press to be vile.

Lots of people chuck up intimate details of their lives and as it’s online it’s there to be consumed by anyone. The press were handing out ghoulish tales, broadsheets and scandal sheets at public executions and making horrendous cartoons of royals, politicians and people in the public eye hundreds of years ago, it is nothing new at all.

The - literal - doorstepping of the family has been unbelievably awful; filming through into the personal space of a grieving family, focusing on the photographs on the wall, capturing the crying mother while quizzing the shellshocked brother has been profoundly uncomfortable.

In fact, the last time I felt that discomfort was the recent plane crash in America, when a British journalist talked a grief-struck man into showing the cameras his wife's last texts to him.

I was working as a receptionist at the time and one of the screens was on Sky News. A former president (not US) died. They showed the same 40 second loop of him and the late Queen when he was at Buckingham Palace, when he was president. This went on for about 40 mins.

For some unknown reason, there wasn't much work to do that day so watched the Sky News and thought could they show anything different. Even a photo wouldn't look tedious.

You can change your vote. Just choose the other one.

And the homophobia because one of the couples was a gay couple.

Under a photo of them on social media someone wrote 'less gay more yay'

Even in death people can't escape disgusting bigotry.

Its not even just the DM comments. I don't read the DM. Comments on the Reuters, Indie and Sky news feed:

Great, fewer benefit seekers in council houses ( comment on a picture of a family with children )
How can these victims be British?
The lone survivor must be a terrorist
They should have stayed in their own country.
Plane smelt of curry...

It's instructive on how British Indians are seen. And how politicians from all parties have stoked hatred by othering people and painting anyone with brown skin as a leech taking jobs from proper British people.

And that photo of a family with children - both parents are Drs, one a very well respected Radiologist who’s been living and working in this country for many years treating these low life racists.

In Leicester, Asians have been living there since the early 50s. So some families may have 3 generations born in the UK. Yet get yelled at "go back to your own country".

Have friends who live in Leicestershire and during Brexit, heard elderly people say they are voting Brexit due to the Asians. Erm, some Asians have been in the UK 15-20 years before UK entered the EEC - now called EU.

I do hate racists and many are ignorant.

The interviews with Indian air crash victim family members today was appalling. There was seemingly very little consideration of the sensitivity required in that scenario, only hours after the crash. The interviews came across as a "busy body" interrogating people in distress with blunt questions. Some of the questions were stupid and blunt and illustrated the nievety of the reporter. I can't actually belive ITV allowed the interviews to be aired. More importantly, how was a seemingly inexperienced reporter given access to a situation they were seemingly not experienced to handle with sensitivity. I felt extremely uncomfortable watching the questioning - In my view ITV have some explaining to do.

@rhomb the ‘leave’ campaign funded by Aaron Banks actually put leaflets in their own language through doors in predominantly Asian areas telling them that being out the EU would make it easier to get more relatives etc into the country - now indeed it did post Brexit under the Tory’s due to workforce situation - however I don’t think many white British of that mindset were actually thinking of this as a consequence and the ‘leave’ vote didn’t care , they just wanted to win anyhow they did it , lies, half truths, outrageous claims that people didn’t think about in any depth

If my parents were involved in a plane crash or similar and media reporters bombarded me with questions, I would shove the boom mics where the moon doesn't shine and contact the police as the media are harassing me.

I read the comments under a Telegraph article on fb and the racism was horrendous. It is so blatant it’s shocking

It’s fair to say that the majority of those poor people on board that plane would have contributed more to our society than the thick as mince racist bigots who have commented on various social media platforms over the last 24 hrs. Absolutely sickening and beyond my comprehension that the News agencies have been so intrusive.Like vultures around the family in Leicester , the plane crashing and video of those two guys will disturb me for a long time.
Their poor families.

I think there’s a lot of jealousy amongst many of the racists that post - rather than it being a load of benefit scroungers as they like to project , a lot of Indian families are hard working and very successful, because they pool money, homes and resources. A lot making the comments are complete no marks who have never got anywhere and never will - mixed in with a few racist Colonel Blimp ‘uk are the masters of the race’ types.

My husband is an immigrant and is very successful. Over the years I have had so many nasty jibes along the lines of ‘immigrants taking our jobs’ and I want to say ‘what the f*#k stopped you doing what he did? This country is full of opportunity.’ People from countries like India see that and come here and work their socks off to make the most of what this country can offer.

@JSMill totally agree- if they want to talk about scroungers maybe they should look in the mirror at a lot of their white British friends and relatives.

The press have always been vultures. Many years ago a neighbour of mine died in tragic circumstances and within hours the press were there, harassing neighbours for information. Worse still, laughing and joking among themselves while shocked family members who lived close by were trying to process what had happened to their relative. I'll never forget it.

When Eric Clapton's baby son died tragically there were reporters hidden in the grave at the funeral.

24 hour rolling news is an awful thing. They're so desperate to report anything.

Brexit seems to have emboldened the racists. It used to be that it was hidden, or more frowned upon. Now it's like they feel validated and can shout it from the rooftops.

That was certainly my experience, and contributed to us deciding to leave the UK, having lived there for decades, in 2019. We’re white Irish people, but it turns out that the kind of people who don’t like ‘dirty Asians’ (I quote a neighbour) aren’t that keen on Irish people either, because we’re not quite white, for them.

I agree.

As another poster mentioned: there wasn't really any need to let us all ghoul over the video of the plane descending to it's demise on a 'respected ' media outlet. Because that's why it's being played + it is a fascination with the 'dark'.

Interviewing the cousin was disrespectful and unnecessary.

I've too seen racist comments, homophobic comments regarding the two married men that lost their lives and believe me , I'm not a fan of the "homophobic" or "racist" cries: but what I've read really is true racism and homophobia. Speculating exactly how British that surviving man was is particularly crass. Who cares if he's British, Indian, none or only some of them : he's a human that's just walked out of a plane that exploded killing everyone, including his brother, except him.

Agree, I have posted this before but we had the misfortune to be in a beach resort in Thailand the year after the tsunami with some journalists/reporters having dinner near us in the hotel. They were generally loud and boorish but were also absolutely gleeful that they'd managed to find some kids that had been orphaned.

How absolutely disgusting.

I had a friend who was murdered in a very high profile case a few years back. The media behaved despicably and very little of what they printed was the actual facts! They are scum.

I’m so sorry this happened to them and you. The media can be so appalling.